NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The newly merged Lupus Research Alliance raised an unprecedented $3 million for lupus research through its 2016 Walk with Us to Cure Lupus program and TCS NYC Marathon team.

By year's end, the national Walk program will reach approximately $33.5 million raised since its inception in 2002. Every penny – 100% – raised goes directly to support lupus research programs, because the Lupus Research Alliance Board of Directors funds all administrative and fundraising costs.

New York City is the world's most successful lupus walk; this year alone it will raise over $1.5 million for lupus research. Our second largest Walk is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ (home to the New York Jets owned by Lupus Research Alliance Board Chairman Robert Wood Johnson IV). Other key locations in the Walk program include Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

"We are so proud to have built such a successful Walk program," commented Co-CEO Kenneth M. Farber. "Tens of thousands of people impacted with lupus participate every year, enlisting friends and family to join in and help fund the best research money can buy to find a cure for this tough disease."

Team Life Without LupusAs an Official Charity Partner of the TCS New York City Marathon since 2009, the Lupus Research Alliance is also the only lupus organization to host a team in the world's most famous marathon, the TCS NYC Marathon. Team Life Without Lupus also participates in the United Airlines Half Marathon in NYC and will be running in the March 2017 race. Since its formation in 2009, the Team of over 200 former and current runners has raised close to $1 million.

Co-CEO Margaret G. Dowd said, "By raising funds, joining a Walk team, or cheering on your favorite Team Life Without Lupus Marathon runner, everyone can help propel the lupus research needed for better treatments and a cure. We aim to free the world of lupus, and together we can."

Two-time Marathon runner Karen LaMura, a young woman with lupus, explains why she joined the Team last year. "I never know when that day will come when I physically can't do these things anymore. So, I have to life live to the fullest while I can." Her message to her "fellow lupus warriors" is to "take every advantage you can when times are good and never give up the fight!"

The Lupus Research Alliance shares Karen's passion and together with the worldwide lupus community will relentlessly advance the most innovative science to find the cure for a Life Without Lupus.

About LupusLupus is a chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. More than 90% of people with lupus are women, mostly young women between the ages of 15 to 44. Women of color are especially at risk.

About the Lupus Research AllianceBorn from the merger of three organizations with a common belief in the potential for science to overcome lupus, the Lupus Research Alliance is at the forefront of driving innovative research that can make a difference for people living with the prototypical autoimmune disease. With that shared conviction, the Board of Directors promises to fund all the organization's administrative and fundraising costs, ensuring that 100% of all public donations go directly to funding research programs to realize our vision of a world free from lupus.